Bluto
Bluto is a character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time villain, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his Thimble Theatre comic strip (later renamed Popeye); he made his first appearance on September 12 of that year. Fleischer Studios adapted him the next year (1933), to be the recurring villain in their theatrical Popeye animated cartoons derived from the Segar strip. Character Bluto is Popeye's nemesis; he, like Popeye, is attracted to Olive Oyl, and usually attempts to seduce her. However, with the help of some spinach, Popeye usually ends up defeating him. Bluto is a large, bearded, burly man. He mostly uses his physical brawn to accomplish what he is trying to do, but does display some ability for tactical planning. Neither Popeye and Olive Oyl, nor any other characters, think of him as anything more than a worthless scoundrel, although Olive seems to forget this in the beginning of an episode, only to discover it later. However, there are some cartoons that show Popeye and Bluto as friends and Navy buddies, with Bluto usually turning on Popeye when an object of interest (usually Olive) is put between them. A prime example of this is the cartoon We're On Our Way to Rio. In more recent Popeye cartoons, such as the computer-animated movie produced by Mainframe Entertainment, Bluto and Popeye are back to being good friends with Bluto being somewhat afraid of Popeye, although Bluto getting mind-controlled puts a wedge between them once again. The Bluto/Brutus issue After the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957, Bluto was replaced by Brutus because it was wrongly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios) cartoons, owned the rights to the name "Bluto". King Features owned the name all along as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip, however, due to poor research, they failed to realize this, and used the name Brutus to avoid copyright issues.http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpopeye.html Brutus appears in [[Popeye the Sailor (TV series)|the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons]] (with a more obese than strong physique), but Bluto returns in the [[The All-New Popeye Hour|1978 Hanna- Barbera Popeye series]] and the [[Popeye (film)|1980 Popeye movie]], as well as Hanna-Barbera's 1987 Popeye and Son series. Brutus was also used by Nintendo for their arcade game based on the property. Bluto, particularly in his Famous Studios incarnation, is a well-conditioned bodybuilder whom Olive Oyl often finds attractive, whereas Brutus is stoop-shouldered with a substantial waistline and generally repulsive. Another subtle difference between the character of Brutus from Bluto is that while Bluto was often portrayed as a fellow sailor who also sought to win the heart of Olive Oyl, Brutus was portrayed as a generic villain, or bank robber, who showed no romantic interest in Olive. Instead, he usually took her hostage, leaving Popeye to rescue her. Prior to the change to Brutus, the bearded strongman was known as "The Big Guy Who Hates Popeye", "Mean Man" and "Sonny Boy" in the comic strip and comic books. The name "Brutus" was first used on Popeye-related products in 1960 and in print in 1962. Although it may be argued that they are one and the same, Ocean Comics has published one of the Popeye Special comic books where Bluto and Brutus were twin brothers; Bobby London, who drew the "Popeye" daily strip for six years, wrote and illustrated "The Return of Bluto" story where the 1932 version of Bluto returns and discovers a number of fat, bearded bullies have taken his place, calling themselves "Brutus" (each one being a different version of Popeye's rival). On December 28, 2008 and April 5, 2009, the Popeye comic strip added Bluto in the capacity of twin brother of Brutus. Voiced by Bluto was voiced by a number of actors, including William Pennell, Gus Wickie, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, and Jackson Beck. Beck also supplied the voice for Brutus in the early 1960s. In the 1980 live-action movie, he is portrayed by Paul L. Smith. In The All-New Popeye Hour and Popeye and Son, he is voiced by Allan Melvin. Other characters In the animated cartoons, Popeye's foe is almost always Bluto, functioning in some capacity—fellow sailor, street tough, theater hypnotist, Arab sheik, competetive swimmer, etc. However, in the Famous era shorts, there have also been "original" one-time characters with Bluto-like personalities and mannerisms such as the blond, beardless lifeguard in Beach Peach (Jackson Beck voiced this character using the same voice) or the boxing champion in Punch and Judo (with a shaved head and altogether different voice). Other Media Bluto appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "The Sack", voiced by Dave Coulier. In a segment that parodies the Popeye cartoons in the style of the film It's a Wonderful Life, Popeye and Bluto have opened up a bank together in what the world would look like without Wimpy. The Bluto/Brutus name debate has also become a topic of interest on The Rick Emerson radio program. External links * Popeye | The Home of Popeye the Sailor Man website * [http://www.toonopedia.com/popeye.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia Popeye page] *Bluto's He-Man Club (Yahoo Group) Category:characters Category:Watercooler Category:Policy Category:Article management templates Category:General wiki templates Category:Image wiki templates Category:characters Category:Watercooler Category:Policy Category:Article management templates Category:General wiki templates Category:Image wiki templates